Saturday, November 04, 2017

Shanda and the Howlers at the Sand Dollar, Friday Nov 3, 2017

Somehow, between conflicting gigs, travelin' and general life interferin', it has been a number of months since I have seen the Howlers - since before the release of their CD, in fact. Thankfully, I was finally able to rectify that finally with this show as they hosted the LV Blues Society Blues Jam at the Sand Dollar.

These jams - and this great band - bring in a good amount of people, so the club was pretty full when the Howlers hit the stage. They captivated the crowd immediately with people drunkenly dancin'n'woopin'n'hollarin' to their brand of bllues, R'n'B, soul, funk and plain old, good time rock'n'roll. With Luke's loapin'n'loopin', rollin'n'tumblin' bass lines, Micah's swingin' bop sax licks, Trevor smooth guitar tone with stylish, stingin' leads, and, even with a sit in drummer, rhythms that jump'n'swing all eyes'n'ears were on the stage. Of course, Shanda is front'n'center with her big, blues-beltin' voice and shakin' maracas. They did a great set of tunes off of the record and neat covers by James Brown, Ruth Brown and, a new one to me, BB King's excellent early blues "3:00 In the Morning"! Both Trevor and Micah would bring the house down when they took off on their usual terrific solos, with Luke and the drummer keepin' the groove behind them, and Shanda never fails to impress. They finished their set with their own slide-guitar rocker, "Mind Made Up", and set the stage for the jammin' to follow. It had been a long week for me so I took off, but these are always fun nights so check 'em out when ya can.